Trade union confederations SAK, STTK and Akava and the trade union solidarity centre SASK have strongly condemned an employer proposal to pay young people lower minimum wages. The unions state that pay already depends on experience and young people are therefore already relatively cheap to hire. Apprenticeship schemes also exist in Finland, which allow for lower pay when work is combined with training. The unions state that a lower minimum wage for young people is both unfair and inhibits young workers’ independence.
English: http://www.artto.kaapeli.fi/unions/T2012/p41
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.